Steamer



J. G. WEBB.

(No Model.)

STEAMER.

' No. 308,116. Patented Nov. 18,1884.-

UNITED STATES PATENT Grrrcn.

JESSE G. WEBB, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

STEAM ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 308,116, dated November 18, 1884.

Application filed February .28, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JEssE G. WEBB, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Steamers, of which I the following is a description sufficiently full, clear, and exact to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which said invention appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is an isometrical perspective view of my improved steamer, and Fig. 2 a vertical longitudinal section of the same.

Like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures of the drawings.

My invention relates to an apparatus designed for use in shelling cocoanuts; and it consists in a novel construction and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed, by whicha simpler, cheaper, and more effective device of this character is produced than is now in ordinary use.

In shelling cocoanuts by the ordinary process a great deal of labor is required to remove the outer covering unless the nuts are steamed before the operation is performed, and when steamed by the usual methods it is very difficult to remove them from the steamer while they are hot without burning the hands of the workman, and consequently requires agreat deal of time to perform the labor properly' My invention is designed to obviatethese difficulties and objections, and to that end I make use of means which will be readily understood by all conversant with such matters by the following explanation, its extreme simplicity rendering an elaborate description unnecessary.

In the drawings, A represents the body or case of the steamer, B the cover, and O the door. The body is preferably composed of wood, of any suitable size and form, and may be lined with zinc, tin, orother sheet metal, if desired. The cover is hinged to the top of the body at w, and provided with the buttons m to keep it closed. The door is hinged at its upper edge to the side of the machine, and

' opens outwardly, as shown in Fig. 1, being provided with the hasps d to hold it closed.

Disposed within the body of the steamer there is an inclined rack, D, mounted on the supports f o, the support 11 being considerably higher than the other and the lower edge of the rack nearest the door 0. An induction steam-pipe, E, opens into the box near its bottom and passes through the support o into the body of the same beneath the rack D. There is also a drip or eduction pipe, Z, adapted to carry off the Water of condensation.

In the use of my improvement the door 0 is closed and secured by the hasp d, and the nuts to be steamed placed on the rack or grate D, and the cover B tightly closed. Steam is then lctinto the steamer through the pipe E, and when the nuts are sufficiently steamed or I the shells sufficiently softened the door 0 is opened and the nuts permitted to roll out by gravitation into any suitable receptacle or onto the ground.

I do not confine myself to using the appaj ratus for steaming cocoanuts exclusively, as it is well adapted for steaming various other articles. Neither do I confine myself to constructing the support D with slats or in the form of a rack, as it may be of any other suit- 5 able form, provided it is sufficiently inclined to discharge the contents automatically or by gravitation when the door 0 is opened.

I am aware that an apparatus for heating sand, gravel, and stones, consisting of an up- 8 right box or cylinder provided with an in clined discharging-bottom, a steam-inlet pipe, and a hopper, is not new; but in that device sufiicient pressure and heat cannot be obtained for cooking purposes, as the steam is free to 9 pass off through the open hopper, while in my case the box is practically steam-tight.

' Having thus explained my invention, what I claim is- A steamer for steaming cocoanuts and other 9 articles, consisting of a close receptacle having a steam-pipe leading thereinto, and provided with an inclined false floor or rack, and with a side door at the lower end of said rack, substantially as described.

O. A. SHAW, L. J. WHITE. 

